Nord Stream 1: Russia switches off gas pipeline
citing maintenance
Shutdown at short notice by state-owned Gazprom
disrupts European efforts to stockpile for winter
Staff and
agencies
Wed 31 Aug
2022 05.43 BST
Russia
halted gas supplies via a major pipeline to Europe on Wednesday, citing a need
for maintenance on its only remaining compressor.
The outage
on Nord Stream 1 meant no gas would flow to Germany until 3 September, said
Gazprom, the Russian state energy company. The Nord Stream 1 operator’s website
showed zero flow in the pipeline.
Unlike
July’s 10-day maintenance of Nord Stream 1, the upcoming work was announced
less than two weeks in advance and is being carried out by Gazprom, not Nord
Stream AG, focusing on the last operating turbine at the station.
Moscow,
which slashed supply via Nord Stream 1 to 40% of capacity in June and to 20% in
July, blames maintenance issues and sanctions that it says prevent the return
and installation of equipment.
Despite saying
the shutdown is needed for maintenance on Nord Stream 1, Russia has also cut
off supply to Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Poland
completely, and reduced flows via other pipelines since invading Ukraine.
As Germany
seeks to replace Russian gas imports by mid-2024, its economy minister, Robert
Habeck, said this month that Nord Stream was “fully operational” and there were
no technical issues as claimed by Moscow.
Klaus
Mueller, president of Germany’s network regulator, said Europe’s largest
economy was making better progress than expected in filling its gas storage
facilities, but did not have enough to get through winter.
The reduced
flows via Nord Stream have complicated efforts across Europe to fill up vital
gas storage facilities, a key strategic goal to make it through the winter
months, when governments fear Russia may halt flows altogether.
At 83.26%,
Germany is already within reach of an 85% target for its national gas storage
tanks by 1 October but has warned reaching 95% by 1 November would be a stretch
unless companies and households drastically cut consumption.
For the
European Union as a whole, the storage level is 79.94%, just short of an 80%
target by 1 October when heating starts to be needed.
Some
Europeans are voluntarily cutting their energy consumption, including limiting
their use of electrical appliances and showering at work to save money while
companies are bracing for possible rationing.
With Reuters
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